Right 2025 is finally going to be the year I take Europe's most legendary night train Orient Express? No, too costly Dacia? Done that Beograd-Bar? Done that too No! It's going to be the Optima Express! Edirne 🇹🇷 - Villach 🇦🇹 in June on #CrossBorderRail And it's going to be *amazing* - ThreadSky

jonworth.eu • 47 days ago

Right

2025 is finally going to be the year I take Europe's most legendary night train

Orient Express? No, too costly
Dacia? Done that
Beograd-Bar? Done that too

No!

It's going to be the Optima Express! Edirne 🇹🇷 - Villach 🇦🇹 in June on #CrossBorderRail

And it's going to be *amazing*

Comments

ee1.nl•46 days ago

Villach, you say?

signoramac.bsky.social•46 days ago

Looking forward to your reports and pictures of this train journey.

caldimus.bsky.social•46 days ago

Isn't it actually the London to Inverness Cally sleeper?

aarnegranlund.bsky.social•46 days ago

Helsinki - Rovaniemi or Kemijärvi could be a nice addition to the list. 🇫🇮

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

I have taken Tornio-Helsinki and it's amazing - in a different way. So comfortable!

tango-mike-lima.bsky.social•46 days ago

I wonder if the number of BahnBubble people who come to Finland using surface transportation, mainly to experience our night trains, is at all significant in the grand scheme of things? Probably not, though.

tango-mike-lima.bsky.social•46 days ago

I mean, maybe whatever organisation it is that handles marketing Finland as a tourist destination should do some specialised targeting of train lovers? (But Finnair would not like that, and they likely fund such organisation, or have some unhealthy relationship to them.)

mikkelsknudsen.bsky.social•46 days ago

Helsinki-Kemijärvi is great - and highly recommended for sure - but it's not exactly crossing borders...

davidmacdougall.bsky.social•46 days ago

Stop telling people about Kemijärvi. Let them all go as far as Rovaniemi and that's it. Kemijärvi can stay a well-guarded secret.

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

Here's the background about Optima https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optima_Express

And on Vagonweb https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=S%C5%BD&kategorie=MV&cislo=13154&nazev=Optima%20Express&rok=2024

It uses 6 different locomotives (of which 5 electric), has a dining car, and does 40km/h average. 35 hour trip.

wrzlbrnft.bsky.social•46 days ago

Allow for enough transfer time at Villach. It's a great journey, but delays are massive. 😄

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

I am going to plan nothing after arrival other than getting to a friend's place in Klagenfurt!

wrzlbrnft.bsky.social•46 days ago

Sounds like a good plan. 😄

felixonrails.ch•46 days ago

Are you sure? it uses at least 2 diesel locomotives.

felixonrails.ch•46 days ago

It actually uses 7 (respectively 8) locomotives. Vagonweb doesn't show the double TCDD DE24 from Kapıkule to Edirne.

kurswagen.bsky.social•46 days ago

in my case it was also double SŽ 541 from Jesenice to Dobova (or at least Ljubljana)

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

Which is like 20km or something. And is electrified. Makes no sense!

felixonrails.ch•46 days ago

Edirne isn’t fully operational yet and they also don’t have enough electric locos until they get their owns operational

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

Are they hauling freight to Istanbul with diesel then? On Wikipedia the two regional trains Halkali to Edirne are electric hauled meanwhile.

wisgi.bsky.social•46 days ago

Stretching the meaning of express somewhat.

amhoward.bsky.social•46 days ago

And *amazing*

wisgi.bsky.social•46 days ago

I did the overnight sleeper train from Sydney to Melbourne and it was everything but amazing.

wisgi.bsky.social•46 days ago

It could be amazing depending on your level of train rides geeking out type person.

hvondelen.bsky.social•46 days ago

And it crosses 🇭🇷🇷🇸🇧🇬 borders no other operator does

orrorbit.bsky.social•46 days ago

Caledonia Sleeper to Scotland from KingsX. The Whiskey express

tango-mike-lima.bsky.social•43 days ago

(You mean Caledonian Sleeper, and it runs from Euston. https://sleeper.scot)

richardkogelnig.bsky.social•46 days ago

I keep being amazed how often you are in Villach. Btw i think the history of the town is tightly entwined with rail. E.g. I'd wager that the current social democratic major is only in power because of the historic connection between social Democrats, railway workers and the town being a rail hub

hunterprague.bsky.social•46 days ago

I'm not amazed, I'd rather be in Villach than snooty Klagenfurt, Innsbruck or Salzburg. Any city that has street furniture that also shows off ÖBB infra projects and takes a week off in August to party is my kinda town😉 I like Graz too, btw.

richardkogelnig.bsky.social•46 days ago

Amazed because I'm from Villach and he is now more often there than me. And yes ofc I prefer it over Klagenfurt

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

I’m not really going to be stopping there though 🙂

nohillside.ch•46 days ago

Is a car mandatory, or is this also possible without?

brgrwnt.bsky.social•46 days ago

I would sit in the dining car for the whole trip, chain smoking while playing backgammon against random (chain smoking) dudes.

timogrossenbacher.ch•46 days ago

Booking not open yet, right?

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

Correct. Nothing is known, as ever. I am just going on timetables and days it runs from last year.

reben.bsky.social•46 days ago

How will you get to Turkey? Via Bucharest?

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

Taking 2 weeks from Gdansk. Following the EU's eastern borders the whole way. Going into Moldova too.

jgmekenkamp.bsky.social•46 days ago

We dus that trip from Villach to Edirne in 2019, with our campervan on the train. Nice trip!

davidmacdougall.bsky.social•46 days ago

How is the Santa Claus 🧑‍🎄 Express night train from Helsinki to the Arctic Circle at Rovaniemi not "Europe's most legendary night train"?

anitramwaju.malauren.be•46 days ago

Wow! I don't know if it's the most legendary but it's maybe at the same time the longest trip and the least known.

Is the schedule published? I looked a few days ago and it was not. How much does it cost?

jonworth.eu•46 days ago

I’m guessing based on last year’s schedule!

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